Before the Fierce Mama Bear
by thecountessdorkula
Summary: Set as the prequel to Arlert Family Adventures, Armin supports Annie during her pregnancy. AruAni
1. Chapter 1

It had been a complete and total accident. A mother was something Annie Leonhardt had never imagined she would be. Looking back at that moment, she wished that they had taken more precaution.

She had not been feeling well. She was constantly nauseous, dizzy, sleepy. She had been losing weight, but she had figured it had been from all of her recent vomiting. After a couple weeks of these symptoms, she finally broke down and visited a medic. It was when she was waiting to be seen that she realized that her monthly visitor had not come that month. Had it come the previous month? She could not remember. She was so preoccupied with work that it had never occurred to her.

The medic had found the cause of her sickness, and that was that she was pregnant.

There was only one possible father: Armin Arlert. He had been the only one she had ever slept with, so he was the only candidate. They had been together for a few years—taking their relationship to the next level about a year before—and she found herself rather fond of the boy—no, that was not right. He was a man now. He seemed to feel that way as well, and she liked that; she felt special as no one had ever treated her the way Armin treated her. He was kind and sweet and so very gentle with her.

They were still rather young, though. Both were in their early to mid-twenties and still very active in their respective sects of the military. They were very dedicated to their jobs, as well.

But, a baby?

Where would it fit in? She had never planned on anything involving children, especially the idea of her bearing a child. Yet, there she was: pregnant.

Honestly, she did not want to be a mother. She was not the caring type of person. She did not honestly care for children. But, this one would be different, would it not? It was a child created from her love she shared with Armin, so it was different from every other child, right? She was not swayed by thinking this way and felt it would be best to talk it over with Armin. Maybe he knew of a way that they could rid themselves of this situation? After all, would he even want to be a father? The concept of having a family had never shown up in any of their conversations.

She went home earlier the night that she had found out about her new condition. He was surprised that she had shown up so suddenly, so unannounced, but he was still happy to see her come home early. He had been in the middle of making dinner when she came home. He told her it would be a while being that he had not expected her home so early, but she was not really hungry, so the wait was no problem.

They had moved in together some while ago. It was easier that way. Admittedly, it was a little lonely living by themselves once they were given permission to live outside of the barracks of their respective sects, so after a couple years of dating, they decided that living together may just be a better option. Plus, that way, they were free to see each other most any time they desired.

She did not really like the idea of keeping this new information secret for long. After he chattered about his day and such, he finally asked how she was, apologizing for blabbering on about strategies and other things for so long. She waved him off, assuring him it was fine. They were eating dinner by the time he had asked about her day. It was a bit awkward at first. She did not care about talking about her day was; she really just wanted to get to the point and drop the bomb on him. She took a breath, readying herself to tell him.

"I'm pregnant."

It was quiet for a moment before Armin's fork dropped against his plate and Annie just stared at him as she waited for his reaction. Slowly, as the news processed, his face lit up with glee. His blue eyes were shining in delight. He wore the widest smile that she had ever seen on him. He stood up from his chair and went around to hers, pulling her up as well. He pulled her into a tight hug. She could almost swear she felt small droplets fall onto her shoulder.

She pushed him back a bit to look up at his face, studying his expression. He i_was_/i crying. Was he really that happy? Something inside of her made her almost feel bad for wanting to get rid of it. It was i_their_/i child. Still, she could never imagine herself as a mother. Armin was so happy, though; could she possibly take that happiness away from him? She never thought of herself as a good person and she was starting to question this. She loved this man, but she had never imagined herself as a mother. Could she possibly become one with this man by her side?

He pulled her in again. He buried his head into her shoulder as tears of happiness continued to fall.

"I love you so much, Annie," He whispered between the tears.

She said nothing. The thought of her being a mother was weighing heavy on her mind. She was not exactly mother material, so why was Armin so happy to be starting a family with her? Did he see something she did not? She could never be a good mother and she was convinced of that mindset. Why…How could he be so happy?

She knew that he would be a wonderful father. He was a wonderful person and would make an even greater father. But her? She was cold-hearted, out for herself. She would never live up to that. That is how she truly felt.

She wanted to tell him. Tell him how she would not make a good mother and that they should not go through with the ordeal. But his smile, his smile was what reassured her that maybe everything would turn out okay. She still was not convinced she would be a good mother, but he would be a great—no excellent, she corrected herself—father and maybe she could learn to be a good one. Still, she was not sure about having a child. Yet, she saw his smile, took in every little detail of that lovely expression, and she hated even thinking about not going through with it.

"How?" She mumbled. Her own tears started to form, but out of a different emotion that his. i_Damn hormones_,/i she thought. She knew that this pregnancy would not be easy…assuming she let herself go through with it that was.

"Huh?" He pulled back and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"How are you so happy about this?"

"I love you, Annie," He smiled, "I'm so happy about starting a family with you."

"I'll be an awful mother, "She mumbled, looking down at her feet. She could not bring herself to look him in the eyes. She could just feel the tension, his disappointment. "How are you so happy when you know I'll be the worst mother?"

"Is that's what's bothering you?" He laughed, his smile being relit even brighter. He pulled her in once again and this time pulled her in for a kiss. "You're going to be the best mother there can be."

And she wanted to believe him, she truly did, but she still had her doubts as she had never once considered herself mother material. Yet, his smile, his happiness, his reassurance, it would all help her through this. She could do it. The thought of her raising a child was hard to believe, but with Armin so happy about it, Annie could not bring herself to tell him she had ever thought otherwise. He was just so happy and even though she had never considered herself a good person, she could not bring herself to crush his happiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing really changed in the beginning. Armin and Annie continued on with their daily lives and other than her being hit with the symptoms she had been experiencing for several weeks already, nothing had changed. Something was bothering him, though. Nothing appeared to change and that was good. Yet, something seemed off, even if everything was still the same. It took a while, but he eventually figured out what was bothering him.

He wanted to marry Annie.

She was pregnant with his child. It only seemed right, fitting. He felt it would make their growing family feel complete. He brought the idea up to Eren and Mikasa, looking for their support and guidance.

"She tried to kill Eren," Mikasa stated. She was as stoic as ever, but Armin could see the fire in her eyes. She had never liked the idea of the two being in a relationship, and marriage? That was something she liked even less. Armin was her best friend beside Eren and she loved him as family, and as family, she planned on looking out for him.

"I don't think it's so bad, but are you sure you really want to?" Eren questioned, "Are you sure you can trust her? I mean, we're still your friends whatever you do, right, Mikasa?"

Mikasa simply nodded in response. Armin could still see that fire. It was like her eyes sent a message of, "If she does anything to hurt you, I will not hesitate to kill her." He shuddered a bit at the thought.

Neither of his childhood friends enjoyed the idea of him getting married to Annie, but they supported him anyway, no matter how much they were against the idea. (Well, Mikasa was more against it than Eren.) He was not quite sure how to bring the idea to Annie, though.

He bought a ring. It was a start on his way to proposing. It was a simple band with a simple gem; nothing too fancy. After all, being trapped in the walls, there was not much of a selection and fancy was not exactly in Annie's tastes.

It was hard to find the right time to pop the question. She was constantly suffering from nausea, almost all the time. It seemed that she could not keep anything in her stomach. With her being sick like she was, Armin found it best to comfort her, to help her anyway that he could, which was not very much. He still did his best.

One night, Annie could not sleep. She was sick and she was constantly getting up to rush to the bathroom, whether it was to vomit or to urinate from the pressure her expanding uterus had on her bladder. It was no sooner that she got comfortable in bed that she found herself once again in the bathroom. She tried to sleep, but she could not get herself to rest.

Armin had woken up upon one of her many trips back to their bed. He frowned, knowing that she was having trouble, that she was very uncomfortable. She plopped back down on the mattress and faced him. She was taken aback some when her blue eyes met his, surprised he was awake as well.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," She replied monotonously as she flipped over on her other side.

He pulled himself up into a sitting position and leaned over her. He reached down, planting a kiss on her forehead. He went back to sitting. "Is there anything I can do?"

He hated seeing her like she was. She was miserable and he could really tell. Yet, still, even after his offer of help, she muttered, "No."

He lay down next to her, facing her back. He made himself comfortable, spooning her from behind. She did not budge and let him do whatever it was he was planning on doing.

"You know I'm here if you need anything, right?" His voice was soft, gentle.

It was something that she never did understand. She was anything but gentle, especially in the past. She did not understand how he could be so sweet and loving to her after all that she had done. Yet, there they were. He was as kind as he had always been.

"I want to take care of you," He continued, "I love you and our baby. You know that, right?"

She said nothing. She let him go on to say what it was he had to say.

"I plan to always take care of you, so," He paused. Could he ask her now? Was it alright to ask then? This was the calmest moment they had gotten in a while and he wanted to seize the moment. He was determined to make Annie his wife.

"I love you so much, Annie. I've been wondering if you would-"

Annie bolted up from the bed and headed for the bathroom—with a hand covering her mouth—for the countless time that night. Armin frowned. He followed after her, ready to comfort her as best as he could. He was still determined to ask her for her hand in marriage, though.

And the next morning, popping the question was the first thing on his mind.

He had gotten up a bit earlier; he was glad to see that she had been able to finally fall asleep. He smiled and watched her sleeping form for a few moments before he made his way to the kitchen.

He prepared her breakfast, ready to deliver it to her in bed. He had everything set up on the tray and to top it off, he not so discretely placed the ring he had bought to propose with off to the corner of it. He was hoping that she would take notice and he could go about his little spiel like he had tried last night.

He made his way to their bedroom. He walked in, tray carefully held in his hands, and he was surprised to see that she was slowly awaking. When she saw him with breakfast in tow, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, figuring exactly what he had in mind: serving her breakfast in bed.

"Ah!" Armin was slightly taken aback, but still kept the tray steady. "Good morning, Annie!" He smiled as he made his way further into the bedroom. He gently placed the tray in front of her. "I made you breakfast."

"I can smell that," Annie muttered.

She looked like she was going to be sick yet again. He had read a bit on pregnancy after she broke the news and he had seen that pregnant women sometimes had a heightened sense of smell, but he had not realized that she had been experiencing this symptom. He worried that maybe she would get sick and he would not be able to go as planned.

He pulled back the curtains in front of the window and then he sat down on the edge of the bed right beneath her feet. "I hope it's okay."

"It looks good."

He smiled a bit wider. With Annie, he took that as a compliment. He watched her pick up the fork and knife, cutting into a pancake.

Luckily, the morning light hit exactly where he wanted it to: the ring. The sunlight hit the small gem and reflected off of it. He felt his heartbeat speed up a bit; he was getting nervous about this. He was sure—no, he knew it had to work this time.

He heard her make a small noise of confusion as she reached over to the little band. She picked it up and examined it, looking over to him once she realized what it was. And there it was, it was time for him to pop the question.

"You know I love you, right? I want to do everything I can to be a good father to our baby, and I want to be with you, Annie. I want to make everything right, for our family to be complete," He took a breath before continuing, "Would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

It was silent. Two pairs of blue eyes met as she unconsciously twirled the ring in her hands. Suddenly, she nodded. "Yes."

He smiled widely, gently taking the band into his hand and slipping it onto her left ring finger. He leaned forward and kissed her. She kissed him in return.

He felt a weight lifted off his chest; their growing family was becoming complete.


End file.
